Unorthodox desperate faith!

Reflecting on Mark 5:21-42

“Jairus pleaded earnestly with him… So Jesus went with him.” (Mark 5:23-24)
As a Jesus follower, I can relate to times of desperation.
Jairus was not looking for a religious experience.
He was not expressing religious faith in Jesus as God’s Messiah.
He was a synagogue leader, his faith was formed by the traditions of the Elders.
Yet when his daughter is sick and dying, he lets go of his religious views.
He is desperate because he loves his daughter, more than his religion.

No doubt he had been warned by his religious peers to avoid Jesus.
The religious establishment did NOT support Jesus.
They were convinced He was working for Satan (Mark 3:22).
Nevertheless, his love for his daughter pushed him over the edge.
Whether or not Jesus worked for Satan, he wanted his daughter healed.

In most cases, the people who came to Jesus were desperate.
Both Jairus, and this unnamed bleeding woman, did not have religious faith.
They had desperate faith, not credal or doctrinal faith.
In fact, they likely would not have passed our orthodoxy tests.
Nevertheless, Jesus responds to them, helps them, blesses them.

I used to focus on explaining doctrine and ‘true faith’ to others.
I still have those conversations with people, but not as my main focus.
I now urge people to be open about their real need, their desperate hope.
And I tell them to come to Jesus just as they are, in their desperation.
Jesus does not vet people based on external creeds or orthodoxy.
He sees their heart, whether they are for real, sincere, open.
This is why He and the religious leaders clashed so much.

Some people leave their ‘orthodoxy’ when their children are at stake.
They reconsider their beliefs, when their children no longer follow them.
The issue is not whether their views are true or not, but their desperation.
It is for the sake of love that they reconsider their traditional beliefs.
I know this happens often when a child comes out as LGBTQ.
Some parents become less judgmental, less condemning, and more open.
Some study the issue again with open minds, rather than with church constraints.
Some change their views, others don’t, but still change in how they relate.
And sadly some reject their kids, and refuse to let them in the house.

Jairus risked rejection by the synagogue, for the sake of his daughter.
Many parents risk rejection by the church, for their LGBTQ child.
I will not join the chorus of Pharisees condemning these modern day Jairus’s.
I will encourage all involved to come to Jesus just as they are, real and desperate.
Because I know Jesus will go with them.

Jesus sees every desperate soul, every harassed and helpless sheep.
And He has compassion on them.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).

His issue is not with the sheep, but with the shepherds who abandoned them.
With religious leaders who reject and condemn sinners, seekers and strugglers.
Jesus sees the desperate need of ‘unorthodox’ sheep, and gathers them in.
He wants to help them, like a gentle, good shepherd, to find healing.
He is extremely patient with religious Pharisees too, wanting to heal them too.
But sadly they think they are OK, and prefer to point out the flaws in others.

All of us need Jesus, desperately need Jesus.
Those who think they are orthodox, and those the orthodox think are not.
Those who think they know what they’re doing, but Jesus knows they don’t (Luke 23:34).
As long as we do not see our own desperate need, we will be blind to Jesus.
As long as we love our doctrines more than others, we’re missing the point.

I see lost sheep all around, and I can relate to their lostness, their need.
They are not wolves in sheep’s clothing, they are lost sheep without a shepherd.
It is the religious leaders who are the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Those who value their traditions more than Jesus’s sheep.
Like Jairus, they should let go of their traditions, and desperately seek Jesus.
And they should let others in their own struggle desperately seek Jesus.
Jesus will go with us, when we come with real, sincere desperate faith.

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, help me to see the sinners, seekers and strugglers around me like my own much-loved children. You love them as much as You love me and those I love; they need You as much as I, and those I love, need You.

Forgive me when my religion gets in the way of loving others. May today's story make me both more desperate and more hopeful, as I come to You with my need, or for the ones I love.